They were going for an iconic photo of their own, one to match the “champagne” photograph that has come to symbolize the celebration that day long ago when the Central Pacific from the West and Union Pacific from the East met on the windswept desert north of the Great Salt Lake.

Two of those participating Saturday, brother and sister Michael and Karen Kwan, in 2005 successfully petitioned the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to change the arch’s name from Chinaman’s Arch. Their great-great-great grandfather worked on the Transcontinental Railroad.

Margaret Yee, whose great-great grandfather was a chef for the Chinese work crews, said she felt the presence of the laborers as she and a New York dancer and actress, Wan Zhao, walked together along the rail.

“We came to pay them respect,” said Yee, a former head of Asian American affairs for two Utah governors. “One-hundred-forty-five years ago, nobody recognized them.”

Zhao, an immigrant from Mongolia, has been immersing herself in the history of the Chinese workers and immigrants, and performed a dance of prayer Saturday on the rails.

It’s a bit of sore spot for some in the Chinese American community that they had never been invited to help reenact the driving of the rails.

Norm Nelson, the president of the Golden Spike Association, said members of the Chinese community have long been involved in other parts of the celebration, including the act of laying a wreath on the rails to remember those who died working on the railroad.

But they have not been invited to re-enact the placement of the last spikes. “They weren’t part of that [original] ceremony,” Nelson, of Perry, said.

Lee, however, notes that women also were not part of the original ceremony, although some were present that day in 1869. He notes there are no women in the iconic champagne photo, although women and children in costume are always included in the re-enactment photos.

Irvine Community Services Commissioner Melissa Fox at Veterans Day ceremony

Irvine Commissioner Melissa Fox with Beckman HS Football Team

Irvine Commissioner Melissa Fox welcomes Orange County Blues Football Club to Irvine!

Irvine Commissioner Melissa Fox

Irvine Commissioner Melissa Fox with Sea Scouts

Irvine Community Services Commissioner Melissa Fox

Irvine Community Services Commissioner Melissa Fox

Irvine Commissioner Melissa Fox

Irvine Commissioner Melissa Fox addressing the Irvine City Council

Irvine Commissioner Melissa Fox at Irvine Korean Cultural Festival

Irvine Community Services Commissioner Melissa Fox speaks to City Council on behalf of OC veterans, urging the City Council to set aside land in the Great Park as a final resting place for Orange County veterans